1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to toy bubble blowing machines and more particularly to toy bubble blowing machines designed for continual production of a series of bubbles while in operation. The invention also relates specifically to a toy bubble blowing machine which is a simulated motor and which may be mounted on a riding toy or the like.
2. Prior Art Statement
There are numerous patents which have issued over the years to various types of user-operated and automatically operated bubble blowing machines. Some of these involve single wand-type generators and others involve rotating wands having a plurality of openings for the generation of bubbles.
Examples of devices which have been developed for the operator to run in order to generate bubbles are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,044,946; 3,626,631; and 2,625,768. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,496 to Hans Jernstrom, a hand cranking device is utilized to rotate a wand wheel having a series of wands through a bubble liquid source and, through gears off the same drive shaft, to simultaneously rotate a fan to generate the air which flows through the wands to create the bubbles. A housing is utilized which includes an orifice through which the bubbles are emitted. U.S. Pat. No. 3,626,631 to Victor Lerman describes a soap bubble generator which is adapted to generate continuous controllable soap bubbles in response to a stream of air in which the device is placed such as when mounted on a bicycle. The device is provided with a hollow ring with an annular construction through which soap passes to form soap bubbles. Control of bubble formation is provided by a sealing pad which is movable by the operator from a closed position abutting the rearward face of the ring to a remote position thus permitting the flow of air and soapy fluid to be controlled. U.S. Pat. No. 2,625,768 to Finn Magnus describes a device which simultaneously creates bubbles and a sound. The user blows air or otherwise provides air through a tube which lifts up a hinged member which allows air to pass therethrough and which simultaneously lifts a single wand out of a reservoir to create bubbles.
In addition to devices which require an active involvement of the user, many bubble blowing devices have been developed which operate either through batteries or through other motive power. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,582 illustrates a toy lawn mower which includes a pulley-driven shaft which, through a series of gears, simultaneously operates an impeller to create an air flow through a wand wheel having a series of wands which sequentially and continously pass through a bubble liquid reservoir. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,392 which issued to Nelson Chang describes a self-driven bubbling toy in the form of a bubbling octopus which includes a blowing means to produce an air jet and a delivering means to deliver an amount of bubbling liquid from a reservoir to the route through which the air passes. In this case, air continuously passes through a tube while a cam-driven mechanism brings a wand from a bubble liquid source up to the jet of air to repeatedly create bubbles. The bubbles apparently are emitted through the nose of the toy octopus. Other patents such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,447,982; 4,299,049; 4,045,049; 3,228,136; and, 3,100,947 all describe various types of bubble generating machines which have either a series of rotating orifices or a single wand-type mechanism which is operated directly or indirectly through a power source which simultaneously operates a fan or impeller blade to create the air flow which is necessary to generate the bubbles.
Notwithstanding the prior art cited above, it appears that there has been no teaching which will enable the optimal generation of bubbles with a bubble machine by providing intermittent rather than continuous air flow and also providing intermittent rather than continuous movement of the wands carrying the liquid. Thus, the present invention specifically requires intermittent air flow by the use of a shutter which is cam operated while also requiring that a wand wheel or a bubble wand having a plurality of heads rotate periodically or continually so that a given wand head is specifically located in front of the air source before the air source is opened. This enables more efficient and complete use of the liquid and prevents premature bubble formation so as to optimize the likelihood of bubble formation as well as the size of the bubble and maximum utilization of the liquid.